If there was any doubt that Boulder, Colorado is the current epicenter of trail ultrarurnning, it was removed last Thursday at a Sherpa’s restaurant in Boulder. It was there that Buzz Burrell and the Boulder Trail Runners put together a question and answer session with Scott Jurek, Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes, and Dave Mackey. All four of whom are now living in or near Boulder where it’s not uncommon for some combination of these guys to get together for a run.

Let’s take a quick look at the level of domination these four runners have had in ultras over the past decade or so. In six of the past eight years, Ultrarunning Magazine has named either Roes (’09 & ’10) or Jurek (’03-’05 & ’07) as the men’s Ultrarunner of the Year. Mackey has twice been the USATF Ultrarunner of the Year (’04 & ’05) and just won another USATF national championship at the Bandera 100k a few weeks ago. It’s only a matter of time before two-time Leadville 100 winner and White River 50 course record holder Anton Krupicka takes home his own UROY.

Anyway, here’s a look at what the guys had to say about training, racing, and their own plans for 2011. Thanks to Joe Grant for filming the event. I hope he got a chance to eat some of Sherpa’s fabulous food! (When the audio quiets down, just turn your speakers up.)

Thanks for posting that. Sure wish I could have been there. I'd love to have gotten info from these guys about more specific training items. Like: how do each of them view, employ, or ignore glycogen depletion training? Does it even apply to ultra training (since by nature your long run is probably getting you to that point anyway even with calorie intake)?